Volume 125 Issue 56
kansan.com
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY WANSAK
Monday, December 3. 2012
COMMENTARY Kansas game ideal matchup
By Hannah Wise hwise@kansan.com
Both Kansas and WSU faltered and then recovered in the first round against Cleveland State and Arkansas respectively. WSU took Arkansas to a thrilling five sets culminating with junior defensive specialist Kelsey Banwart serving three aces to carry the Shockers to the second round. Kansas played timidly the first set against Cleveland State, but sophomore outside hitter Sara McClinton overcame her nerves and commanded the floor through the following three sets.
Kansas coach Ray Bechard acknowledged in the Friday postgame press conference what I already knew—Kansas and Wichita State play two very different styles of volleyball.
Volleyball is about match-ups, and Wichita State was the ideal opponent for Kansas to play in Allen Fieldhouse. The game came down to whether or not the jayhawks would shift their focus to play faster, scrappier volleyball to keep pace with the Shockers—something they did not do.
Kansas' historic season came to an end Saturday, but at least for me, I am happy it ended with Wichita State. The Shockers are my home-town team and one I am happy to support and follow into the Sweet 16 as they face USC on Friday in Austin. Rock Chalk, Go Shox.
— Edited by Brittney Haynes
Allen Fieldhouse finally saw a Kansas-Wichita State matchup on Saturday. It wasn't the one fans on both sides were clamoring for in the spring, but it was one I'd been waiting to see.
Bechard described WSU's style as a fast-break. Wichita State coach Chris Lamb puts his emphasis in playing fast and attacking aggressively. Looking at the WSU roster and stat sheet, the team is more focused on generating a strong, scrappy back-row defense.
Wichita State attacked throughout the match ending with a .308 hitting percentage. The Shockers spread their attack across the net, giving even attempts between, the outside, middle and right-side hitters. WSU junior setter Chelsey Feekin was one of the most aggressive and smartest players on the floor. She made the Jayhawk blockers guess about where she would put the ball and even earned nine kills.
I was thrilled to follow Kansas volleyball throughout their historic season all the way to their first NCAA tournament appearance in seven years. It was icing on the cake for the Fieldhouse to be the stage on which the team would play. Then adding in the chance to play Wichita State in the second round, it was the best possible combination of elements for volleyball in the state.
Kansas, on the other hand, focuses its efforts at the net; the team is centered around tall, quick, athletic middle blockers who can hold their own both offensively and defensively. However, Kansas' front-row focus is not successful unless the team's back row is passing well and putting the ball in a place that gives the setter options.
Saturday, Wichita State used Kansas' lack of focus on passing to pull ahead. WSU's servers caused the Jayhawk passers to second guess themselves leading to lackluster passes that eliminated options for junior setter Erin McNorton. She was forced time and time again to throw the ball out to McClinton on the outside, just to give the Jayhawks a chance.
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FINDING A FORMULA
ASSOCIATED PRESS
West Virginia running back Shawne Alston is tackled by Kansas' Keon Stowers during the first quarter of their NCAA college football game in Morgantown, W.Va., on Saturday, West Virginia won 59-1U.
Kansas goes 1-11 on season, Weis to make recruitment efforts in upcoming weeks
BLAKE SCHUSTER
bschuster@kansan.com
Morgantown, W. Va. — When Charlie Weis stepped to the podium in the Anderson Family Football Complex last December as Kansas' newest head coach, he asked a question about football in the state of Kansas: Why was Kansas State so successful, and why wasn't Kansas?
At the time, Kansas had gone 2-10 and Kansas State 10-2. Almost a year to the day and following a 59-10 defeat at West Virginia, the Jayhawks are 1-11, and the Wildcats are 11-1 — with a Heisman candidate running their offense. But over that year, Weis found his answer.
"It has a lot to do with recruiting." Weis said. "If you look at the makeup of rosters, you'll see there's one glaring statistic that comes out with where everyone came from."
Weis was referring to junior college transfers. Kansas State has
more than 30 on its roster. Kansas has about half as many, but Weis intends to change that.
In the meantime, Weis tried taking things one step at a time. He set the bar at being competitive in the Big 12 for Kansas, but against West Virginia, the Jayhawks were anything but.
The Mountaineers took control of the game on the first drive, when quarterback Geno Smith fired a 45-yard pass on the first play from scrimmage. A few goal line stops later, Andrew Bue walked into the end zone for the Mountaineers first touchdown.
And that was before Tavon Austin took over.
The layhawks had talked about the quickness and speed they saw from Austin on film, and Saturday, they got to see it in person.
It seemed no matter what angle the Jayhawks took to get to the elusive Austin, he was able to avoid
being tackled. He finished the day with 110 receiving yards and racked up 77 yards on the ground.
"He reminds me of Tony Pierson, but he has another gear to him," Senior safety Bradley McDougald said. "Every Big 12 team that he went against had trouble tackling him, and we had trouble as well."
But Austin wasn't the only problem. Senior quarterback Geno Smith connected on 23 of his 24 pass attempts, gaining more than 400 yards through the air, while Kansas completed only seven of its 16 passes. The Jayhawks simply couldn't keep up.
It was a long way from the competitiveness that Kansas had shown it was capable of. McDougald said it was a tale of two teams. The Jayhawks lost five games this year by 10 points or less. They also lost six games by 14 points or more.
"At times, we were going to the wire with Texas, and at times,
we got blown out by Iowa State," McDougald said. "We were a great home team for the majority of the season."
But what will it take for the Jayhawks to put up a fight against every Big 12 team?
"Recruiting, players buying into the system and work," McDougald said.
It echoes what Weis said — and what he'll spend the next week or so doing while the Jayhawks prepare for finals.
Eighty miles down the road, Kansas State is preparing for a BCS bowl game. In an isolated town, coach Bill Snyder found the formula to build a successful football program in Kansas. Now Weis is going out to create the Pepsi to Synder's Coca-Cola.
"Kansas State is a disciplined team," running back James Sims said. "If you are a team that's like that, no matter who you are, you
can win a lot of ball games."
Against West Virginia, the Jayhawks didn't show the discipline necessary to win the ball game. They were chasing Smith and Austin all around the field, getting burned the majority of the time. Yet the mindset of competitiveness still hovers over the Kansas locker room.
That notion of being competitive isn't going anywhere, but it's certainly getting altered. Weis was brought to Lawrence to win games. Just being able to slug it out won't cut it.
"When you first get to the point where you get them to start fighting, that's a good thing." Weis said. "But fighting and winning are two totally different things. We made up a lot of ground during the year, but you look at the product today, and that's not anywhere near good enough."
— Edited by Andrew Ruszczyk
VOLLEYBALL
Team members lament loss to Wichita State in NCAA tourney
GEOFFREY CALVERT
calvert@kansap.com
Juniors Jaime Matieu and Brianne Riley trudged off the court, heads buried in their jerseys. In the postgame huddle, redshirt junior middle blocker Caroline Jarmoc wrapped her arms around her teammates one final time, overcome with emotion.
As impressive as Kansas volleyball's season was, it ended abruptly in a 3-1 defeat at Wichita State in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, denying Kansas its first trip to the Sweet 16 in school history.
ASHLEIGH LEE/KANSAN
"All of us are so close, and we had such a great season that we don't want it to end." Jarmoc said. "Bri even said in the locker room that she wanted to practice on Monday, so it's just something hard to accept."
Sophomore outside hitter Sara McClinton led the Jayhawks in kills for the second straight match, finishing with 18 kills. Redshirt junior outside hitter Catherine Carmichael added 13 kills, but also committed nine attack errors.
Senior middle blocker Tayler Tolefree and junior setter Erin McNorton hide their tears as they walk off the court after Saturday's game against Wichita State in the second round of the NCAA tournament at Allen Fieldhouse. The Jayhawks lost 3 sets to 1 to the Shockers.
Those two combined for 85 attacks, while the Jayhawks' middle blockers, Jarmoc and senior Tayler Tolefree, combined for only 17 kills
on 46 swings. Coach Ray Bechard said the Jayhawks became too predictable and lacked balance.
"For Tolefree and Jarmoc only to get a total of 46, that's way below our goal," Bechard said. "That goes back to we didn't do one skill well tonight, and that's the first contact when they were serving and our setter didn't have enough options."
Trailing two sets to one in the fourth set, Kansas gained some momentum when a Wichita State attack error brought Kansas to within one point, 20-19. But after a Shocker timeout, senior defensive specialist Morgan Boub served the ball out of bounds.
Kansas couldn't get any closer, as Wichita State rattled off two more points before McClinton kept Kansas alive with two kills. But the Jayhawks didn't have enough points left to work with, falling 25-21.
At the end of the previous two sets, Wichita State used an 8-0 run in the second set and a 6-0 run in the third to break those two sets wide open. The third set loss was particularly painful for Kansas. A Carmichael kill brought the Jayhawks level at 18, but four straight Shocker kills and two Kansas errors put Wichita State in control.
out of a rotation the anxiety tends to build for each point that you don't get, and the gap gets bigger and bigger", Jarmoc said. "You're working so hard, and it just not working out, and then you get one point and that's only a dent in what the hole is."
Part of the reason Wichita State could put together such large runs is that it controlled the battle at the net. The Shockers established a rhythm in the second set when they committed only two attack errors, while Kansas committed nine. They also ended up with 11 more kills than Kansas for the match on only one more attack.
"When you can't seem to side
While the blocking numbers were nearly even, the Shockers' froit-it row was able to get touches on many Jayhawk attacks. Kansas, however, couldn't, leaving Riley, Boub and the rest of the Jayhawks' back line to scramble for digs.
All those factors led to Wichita State siding out at 65 percent, meaning the Jayhawks served at least twice in a row on only 35 percent of its serves.
"They were tracking us really well," Carmichael said. "They had two blockers almost in front of everybody. Obviously, that makes it a lot tougher for us to hit around
Junior setter Erin McNorton had fewer choices on ball distribution because Kansas had trouble stopping the Shockers' attack, so the Shockers could guess where to commit blockers. As a result, when McNorton tried to find Jarmoc and Tolefree in the middle, they had little success getting the ball to the
four hands that are up there."
floor frequently and at and efficient rate.
"They passed the ball to target better than we did," Bechard said. "That's the fine line it comes down to in a match like this. Their middles got 31 kills and ours got 17, and we feel like the middles are a strength of our team."
Edited by Ryan McCarthy
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